Survival
by Crimson TigerLily
Summary: Life is about more than living. Because to live, you have to survive. Valkyrie is special. A special kind of special. Hunting might be her best course of action yet. But what will those misadventures bring to her on her journey? Eric/OC and Dean/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

I lived in a normal city once, a traditional one.

It was horrible, I didn't like it one bit.

With all the shiny stuff blinding me and the giant buildings enclosing me like I'm some animal in a cage. The air was stuffy, hard to breath and I coughed all the time.

But when my dad got into some trouble with people he refused to mention, he made me, my very pregnant mom and my brother Balthazar pack up a bare minimum and dragged us far and wide across the country.

Or, come to think of it, perhaps more than one country.

At one point in time, we settled in the woods near a small agricultural town that pretty much lived by their grain. A couple shepherds here and there too.

We took up residence in an abandoned house (though I suspect my father had something to do with that) for a short while, while he built us a more accommodating house deep in the woods, by a small lake. I was five back then, and Balthazar was nine.

Soon after the move by the lake, mom gave birth to a little girl, and she named her Eir.

Over the years, we took in others that my father said were like us, until we had a small village going on by our house. We were still on the outskirts and we were all in the middle of the woods, near a mountain range. In the middle of the village was a trading center, where you could share whatever you had in excess against what you didn't have.

My matter of expertise was hunting.

Eir, on the other hand, was better at healing people, she was said to have magic hands. And her knowledge of medicinal herbs was wonderful.

However, whenever the locals brought someone in for Eir to heal nowadays, I'd rather sit back and wait for someone to need my services.

Because you see, when my sister's tending to a client that cannot be saved, will die no matter what my sister does and is in great pain, she asks me to put them out of their misery.

It's not the best job in the world, I much prefer hunting, but someone has to do it, and I seemed to be the best qualified for the job. My sister didn't have to think about it long after my mom explained to her how the meat ended up on the table every day.

Speaking of my mother, she left us for a house closer to town the moment she was sure we could take care of ourselves. Of course, she asked us if we wanted to join her, but my sister wouldn't confuse the people that knew where to find her if they got sick and Balthazar and I both have trust issues as well as a strong lack of people-skills.

My name is Valkyrie Woodward, and I'm a hunter in the small village of Cael.

I'm twenty four years old, I've been isolated from society in general except for a small town created by my father in the middle of the forest, I have major trust issues and can aim as well with a bow and arrow as a shotgun. Well, probably better, actually.

But that's besides the point.

**Chapter 1**

I straightened my back and set my eyes on a young buck a few feet away, chewing on some grass. I placed an arrow in my bow quietly and waited for the buck to come just a little bit closer...

I released the arrow, sending it right through the buck's eye, killing him on impact. I looked around silently as the buck fell to his knees and crumpled to the forest floor, dead.

"Aren't you cute as a button? I think I'll call you... Dinner" I said to the dead buck with a small smirk on my face, walking over to him.

It was then that I realized that the thing was twice my size and probably three times as heavy as me. A frown pulled the corner of my lips downwards as I thought about how I could possibly bring it back without dragging it the whole way there when one of the stupidest ideas I'd ever had crossed my mind.

I bent down and slipped the thing on my shoulders, straightening back up afterwards. I winced a bit.

It was heavier than I had expected.

I carried it home anyways, knowing I should have thought about this before I shot down a buck.

"I need a hunting partner" I grumbled to myself as I almost tripped on a random stone. Things were different since Balthazar had left. I was pretty much the last competent hunter left to bring food back, since Balthazar had left with the others. He had tried to rope me in too, but I was never any good at being around people, so I just stuck to the sidelines.

Unfortunately, that left _me_ with the important task of bringing back meat for everyone, so I found that I spent most of my time in the forest, hunting. Contrarily to what my mother seemed to think, that didn't bother me one bit. The part that _did_ bother me, however, was bringing the meat back to the village. I had to go straight to the butcher, or else my catch would most likely get stolen bit by bit while I had my back turned. Especially a big one like this one.

I didn't catch a buck very often, but when I did, I would get a small gift. Most often a new dagger, sometimes a new bow if mine gets... injured.

I don't like hunting with guns, you see, they make too much noise and scare off all the prey.

But our butcher, Valerius, makes the trip completely worthwhile. He's got a crude sense of humor and a personality people usually find extremely rude, but as I said before, my people-skills are rusty, if existent at all.

So I crept slowly and silently through the forest with a buck on my shoulders (a harder task than one would imagine) and entered the butcher's place through the back door.

"Valkyrie? Is that you?" I heard his gruff voice calling out to me and smiled slightly.

"Yup, it's me. Guess what I brought you today?" I asked rhetorically, walking in the main butchering area and dropped the large animal on its deathbed. Also known as, the table on which Valerious is going to chop it up.

"Rabbits? Oh my god! That buck is beautiful! How'd you get him?" he asked when he entered the room, rushing over to the dead animal. I knew he didn't actually expect me to answer, so I didn't. I never really did, anyways.

"Do I get something special this time?" I asked.

I gestured in the general direction of the vault in which he usually held his daggers and such that were for me.

"I figured you were old enough for a sword," he said distractedly as his expert hands started skinning the buck.

I held in a grin as I opened the vault and saw a beautiful sword.

The hilt was made of some of dark gray metal engraved with copper swirls that made it look Celtic.

Benjamin, our smith, must have been extremely proud of it.

"It's a beauty" I commented, eying the writing that went down the base of the blade.

"Isn't it? Benji says it's got magic powers because of the way he made it. Poor kid, the loss of his father must have finally reached his head" Valerious shook his head in shame and continued cutting up my buck while I waited patiently for my part.

Benjamin Smith came to Cael a little over a year ago with his father, and I heard my sister saying something about them being from... Scotland I think? Maybe Ireland, I'm not sure, something like that. Some place with Celtic people.

His dad had been our smith back then, but there had been a fight with authorities, some local policeman had found us and gathered a small patrol to take us out. Smith senior got shot in the head, he never even stood a chance, but we won. And Benji became our smith at sixteen years old.

But that's alright, I got rid of them.

"Yeah. Can I keep it?" I asked, meaning the sword, but I was sure that Valerious knew that.

"Of course, V. That's the whole point of it!" he scoffed, and handed me the buck's skin, along with a few pounds of the meat wrapped in a special type of paper, specially made for meat.

I thanked him and quickly made my way back home to my sister.

"Finally! Valkyrie, what the hell have you been doing? I need you to cut something up," Eir said exhasperatedly. My mother had been raised by the modern equivalent of Norse men. She had done a lot of research to find our names, hoping that they would suit us in the futur.

"I was hunting, Mercy. You know, for meat, to make us live," I said, a hint of sarcasm touching my voice.

"My name is Eir, not mercy. Bring your but over here, I need your help," she grumbled before stalking off in the direction of what I like to call her _office_.

"It's the same and you know it" I argued with my sister. It was true, Eir [ey-EAR] literally meant 'Mercy' in old Norse, which is why I always called my sister Mercy. Eir was damn hard to pronounce.

"Oh shush. I have a dead person on my table, and I want to know why" Mercy said, pointing to the cadaver on her operation table.

"Well, I'd say it's there because it's dead. However, if you're referring to how it might have gotten there, I'd say someone put it there," I said, pointing out the obvious.

My sister glared at me.

"Cause of death, Valkyrie, that's what you're here for" she deadpanned, gesturing to the corpse.

"Okay, okay, I get it" I raised my hands in surrender and strolling casually toward the dead person. As strong-willed as Mercy was, the dead scared the crap out of her. It was, after all, my area more than it was hers.

I was comfortable with death, I dealt it everyday to unsuspecting forest creatures to put food on the table. Often many times a day.

So I walked to my sister's dead person and poked and prodded it a bit, hoping I wouldn't have to cut it open.

"Any idea who this is?" I asked my sister.

"No clue, Ace found him in the middle of nowhere, apparently. Or that's what he says. Also says he carried the corpse on his shoulders all the way here," she said, scoffing at the end. I rose an eyebrow at her, but she wasn't paying attention.

"If so, then he should learn to hunt. I had a buck on my shoulders myself" I commented, checking the man's neck. Two puncture wounds, barely noticeable.

I frowned. They were right over the jugular, it wasn't right.

I pulled out a knife and slit open the throat, expecting blood to come spilling out, but, to my surprise, none came forth. The dead person was dead.

"Drained of blood, that's your cause of death" I said, frowning.

You know what that meant? That meant vampires were in town.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own supernatural or true blood.**  
**On a brighter note, I'll let you know that the timelines sort of overlap, but not much. When the 'Supernatural' element comes in, you'll see a lot of Winchester for a while, but then not so much. We need Eric to come in at some point, right? Yeah. Oh, and we won't concentrate on Dean's romance much. It'll be mostly implied. (Jess, I'm talking to you).**

Vampires had 'come out of the coffin' a few years ago, only proving further what I had always believed in. Why? No clue, I just had a gut feeling all those myths were real.

"Drained of blood? How do you know?" she asked, peeking between the fingers that covered her face.

"Vampires" I said, voicing my thoughts on the subject. Mercy peeked and curled her lip in disgust before waving the subject off.

"Whatever, get him off my table" she said. I resisted the urge to glare at my little sister, and slung the body on my shoulders.

"While I'm out, you should check out my new sword. Apparently, it's magical or something" I said, walking out the door and bringing the dead guy to the make-shift cemetery me and Eir had set up not long after dad bailed. The death rate had increased along with the birth rate and we were running out of place to put the bodies.

I buried the body and marked it with a large stone, on which I marked;

_Name unknown, found dead in Lake._

_Cause of death: Drained of blood._

Along with a physical description so that I wouldn't have to dig him up for nothing if anyone ever came looking.  
It was the seventh one this month that came in drained, and I was running out of large rocks to write on. At some point, I would have to convince Mercy to let me burn the damned things, I was sick of digging graves. Six feet is a lot to dig out.

"Excuse me? What are you doing?" came a gruff voice from behind me. I spun around, my right hand gripping the shovel tightly.

"Who the hell are you?" I answered the man that stood in front of me. He was wearing a suit, as was the taller man beside him. The one that had spoken had spiky, dirty blond hair and muddy green eyes, and seemed to stand at about 6'2".  
The other one, however, was a few inches taller at about 6'5". He had warm brown puppy dog eyes and shaggy brown hair.

"FBI. I'm agent Young and this is my partner, agent Angus. We'd like to ask you some question on the recent disappearances, ma'am," the blond one said and I almost burst out laughing at the names they had chosen for themselves.

"First of all, you guys have to learn how to pick proper fake names. Second, I don't know how you got fake FBI badges, but I'm not answering any questions," I said, giving the men a mocking grin. Blondie huffed in aggravation, obviously at having his cover blown, so the other one took over.

"Look, I'm sorry for any inconveniences, but we'd really like some information. I'm Sam, and that's my brother Dean. We heard about the disappearances, and we're here to help," _Sam_ said, and he sounded more truthful.  
I nodded, and motioned to the grave I had just finished filling back up.

"My sister found him this morning. Read the rock, that's all you need to know. In the past month, there have been six others, and they're all buried here. Sure, they might have disappeared from other towns, but I'm the one that buries them" I said, crossing my arms and frowning.  
I never did like strangers.

"Do you mean you're the reason for the disappearances?" Dean asked, looking surprised. As though he couldn't believe I'd be capable of doing such a thing. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Did I say that I was? No. It's a long story, best told over coffee. Come on," I said, walking back towards my house with the shovel over my shoulder.  
I would feel much safer with all my weapons around me, and my sister's incredible knowledge on poisonous plants to slip into their coffee.

**FF after explanations**

"Wow. A whole village, hidden in the trees" Sam mused to himself. Dean grinned.

"A bit like Robin Hood, I think I like it" he said, looking like a chesire cat.

"Not really. We're just a safe-haven for those that need it," Mercy answered, a blush creeping up her cheeks. I looked between her and Dean as I once again noticed the looks those two gave each other.

"Which somehow brings me to another subject. How old are you?" I asked. I knew they couldn't be that old, and I was certain they weren't yet in their thirties.

"Valkyrie! That's rude!" Mercy hissed at me, giving me the evil eye. I simply ignored her.

"I'm 22, and Dean is 26. And you?" Sam said, smiling at me timidly.

"I'm 24. Mercy just turned 19 recently," I answered, shooting Dean a sharp look. He just raised an eyebrow at me.

"You know, if the vampires ever hear of this place, it'll be short-lived" he commented, changing the subject back to its original subject.  
I shot him a glare.

"Our people know how to defend themselves" I countered, debating whether or not I should christen my new blade with Dean's crimson blood. I settled for not when my sister gave me a dirty look, as tough she could read my intentions just as well as I could read hers.

"Oh, I don't doubt it one bit. Having survived under the radar for that long, and _thrived_! But I'm afraid vampires are much faster and much stronger than any human being" Dean argued. I pursed my lips.

"Vampires do have weaknesses, though. Silver, for one. And dead man's blood, for another. They can't enter one's home without invitation, can't come out in the sunlight, and slaves to their instincts. I think we have the upper hand" I said, raising an eyebrow and _daring_ Dean to say differently.

"But humans are so squishy and fragile" he said with some odd mix between a smirk and a grin.

"Who said I was human?" I said, mirroring his smirk-grin-type-thing.  
That wiped the annoying look right off his face. Mercy saw this, and rolled her eyes at me.

"Don't worry Dean, we're human" she reassured him, patting him on the shoulder condescendingly.  
He huffed, and stood up, looking my sister over before grabbing his leather jacket and putting it on.

"Good. Well, in that case, I guess me and Sam better get going. We still need to hunt the bloodsuckers," he said, giving my sister one last mental-undressing before walking straight out the door.  
Sam watched his brother leave before turning back to us.

"Thank you, Valkyrie, for inviting us into yours and Mercy's home. It was a pleasure meeting you," Sam gave me a small smile and shook my hand. I smiled back at him nicely.

"It was nice to meet you too Sam. Tell your brother that if he lays hand on my little sister, he's going to have to sleep with one eye open for the rest of his life," I warned with a warm smile, but I knew that Sam could see the very real threat behind my smiles and tone of voice.

"Will do. Have a nice evening, the both of you," he finished and followed after Dean, shutting the door softly on his way out.

Mercy then spun around to me and glared her deadliest glare at me.

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I had no idea what her problem was.

" _'Tell your brother that if he lays hand on my little sister, he's going to have to sleep with one eye open for the rest of his life' " _she quoted me, using a horrible tone of voice as an impersonation. I just blinked at her.

"Seriously? So what if he touches me? Maybe I want him to, ever think of that?" she fumed. She was obviously furious, yet I didn't see what I had done wrong.

"1. Ew, I didn't want to know that, and 2. He is _26_, Mercy! He's older than me! And he's a cocky bastard that needs a firm punch in the face. Besides, Sam's better-looking and he's sweeter, and he's _your age_. Go after him instead" I said, crossing my arms.  
Mercy huffed and put her hands on her hips.

"But you saw the way Sam looked at you! And besides, I prefer Dean. I don't care if he's _26_, age is just a number and it doesn't matter," she practically growled out at me.  
I resisted the urge to scream. This would go nowhere, when Eir got like this, it was like an unstoppable force meeting an unmovable object. It just didn't work.  
So I threw my arms up in the air, and stomped my way to the stairs on my way to my bed. Half-way there, however, I thought better of the situation and decided to give Mercy an ultimatum.

"Fine, whatever. But if you sleep with him, I will either castrate or kill him, depending on my mood. Your choice" I called over my shoulder before going to bed without leaving her the chance to answer.  
Just as I was shutting the door to my room, I heard Mercy scream my name at the top of her lungs in annoyance. I smirked to myself in satisfaction.

. . . **Time Lapse** . . .

I woke up in the middle of the night to screams and the sounds of panic. Not the most pleasant thing to wake up to.

"Valkyrie! I need help down here!" I heard Mercy shout, and I shot up, still in my pajamas, running towards where I kept my weapons. I grabbed my bow and arrow (with silver tips), and was about to run out when a glint caught my eye. I looked back briefly and saw my new sword.  
I suddenly decided that it would witness its first battle.

I grabbed it quickly, propelling myself down the stairs, extremely glad I had thought of putting my hair in a braid before I went to bed. It would have gotten in my way otherwise.

"Mercy! What's happening?" I asked when I reached her. There was blood everywhere, staining the floors and furniture, gushing from the townspeople that had come to me and Mercy seeking medical attention and shelter.

"Vampires!" was all she needed to say for me to throw myself out the door. They had apparently learned of our town and had decided that a feast was in order.

They came at me from all sides, too fast for me to have time to pull any arrows out of my quiver. I swung my sword and decapitated the first, chanting lightly in Old Norse for my new blade as it bathed in the blood of our enemies.  
Time seemed to slow down as I dodged blows and slashed at my attackers, my body moving in ways I wasn't aware it was able to as I escaped the claws of the vampires that wanted me dead. My newly-acquired sword seemed to have a mind of its own as it moved a deadly dance, landing fatal blows left and right.  
Before I could even realize it, I had slain all of the vampires and finished my chant. Now all I had to do was name my sword.

"_Ilithyia_" I let the name get caught on the breeze as I breathed deeply, surrounded by blood and guts everywhere.  
I hadn't known before-hand what vampires looked like when the died, but now I surely did. They blew up.

I basked in the glory of victory before I turned to go back inside the house. Eir was kneeling in the center of the living-room, her face in her hands, with heart-wrenching sobs escaping her tiny frame.

"Hey, hey, it's alright. It's gonna be alright, Mercy," I said in a hushed tone, gathering her in my arms and holding her tightly to myself.

"No it won't, Valkyrie, I lost them! I let them die, V, they're dead! And it's all my fault!" she sobbed out. I just hushed her and rocked her slightly, murmuring reassuring words in her ear in all the languages I could think of. Which, considering the amount I was fluent in, was saying something.

While my sister was having an emotional breakdown, I took the time to look around. In fact, dead bodies lay strew all over the place, most of them dead by blood-loss, some dead by getting trampled by the others, and some large piles of goo staining everything.  
It was like a scene from a horror movie, an intensely graphic one at that. It reminded me why I preferred the battlefield to the hospital any day.

Mercy and I stayed like that through the entire night, rocking each-other, taking shifts of sleep and waking the other up when she started yelling. To be truthful, I probably got the most sleep, seeing as I was outside making vamps blow up while Eir tried to save the insanely large amount of people that had come to her. It was impossible, we both knew it, but I don't think she had intended for me to be capable of slaying all the vampires. I think she had thought that this was it, this was how we were going to die.  
My thoughts, had I had any, probably wouldn't have been very far off.

At around dawn, the door swung open. I was standing with _Ilithyia_ in my hand, ready to decapitate whoever it was that dared try to finish the job.

"Mercy, do you- Holy shit! What the hell happened here, did we miss something?" Dean asked, walking in and stepping over the cadavers with four coffees in his hands. I dropped the sword and slumped back down, wrapping my arms around my sister. She had gone in shock a short while ago and was now just sitting there, staring off into the distance.  
Her head turned slowly towards Dean.

"Dean?" her voice was low and raspy, sounding completely broken. It shattered my heart to hear it, and Dean seemed to feel the same. He put the coffee down and walked slowly towards us, crouching down to Mercy's height.

"Yeah, Mercy, it's me. What happened?" he asked softly, but he seemed uncomfortable to say the least.  
Tears started running down Mercy's face as she no-doubt remembered the events of the past night. She lurched forward suddenly and started sobbing in Dean's chest while he held her, rubbing soothing circles into her back.  
I didn't do anything about it, just stared dully into Dean's eyes as he shot me a questioning look.

"Vampires. Lots of them. It's a miracle we survived, really. Mercy woke me up, asking for help, but the moment I saw all the people crying and screaming, I bailed. I killed the vampires, every last one of them, and I loved it. The rush, it was incredible. I used _Ilithyia_ here for the first time. But when I came back, they were all dead too. All the villagers. Some vampires too. And Mercy was having an emotional breakdown in the middle of all the blood," I explained my part, and I had a feeling it would be a long time before Mercy would be able to do the same.

Then, Sam walked in, saw the mess, and rushed to me.

"Valkyrie, are you alright? You're not hurt, are you? Was it the vampires? I'm so sorry, we didn't know, otherwise we would have sticked around," Sam rushed me with questions so quickly that I didn't have the time to understand any of them before his warm arms had engulfed me and he was holding me tight.

I didn't want to break away from Sam's warm embrace, but I needed to get changed, I needed coffee, and most of all, I needed to arrange mine and Mercy's future.

So I pulled away from Sam and took a deep breath.

"What are we going to do? We have nothing left" I said, talking about both myself and Mercy.  
Dean looked up at me.

"Not even Aunts or Uncles that would take you in? Distant family members? Friends of the family?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No, this was all we had, this village and each-other," I said, deciding not to mention Balthazar or my father. They were best kept out of the picture.  
Sam and Dean exchanged a look while I took one of the cups of coffee. I started sipping it, trying my hardest not to gulp it down like I was starved.

"I guess you could come with us for a while. We could teach you how to defend yourself out there while keeping an eye on your sister," Dean said, frowning. It was clear he disapproved of other people taking up his life-style.  
I nodded and gave him a small smile, before finishing my coffee and going to change.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own supernatural or true blood.**  
**And now, straight from the mind of Butterflysmile (providing you with your weekly dose of blood, guts and romance since 1995), I present to you... The next update! Woo! I'm on a roll here, don't disturb me. Reviews don't count as disturbing me, in fact, those are very welcome! FYI, Cael is pronounced as [kah-elle]**

I woke up in Dean's car, a '67 Chevrolet Impala, with Mercy's head on my lap.

"Where are we going?" I asked groggily, stretching and feeling my stiff joints pop.

"South Dakota, we're going to visit an old friend so that you and Mercy can get a little target-practise," Dean answered. Sam seemed to be asleep.  
AS we continued to drive through the night, I watched the scenery fly by through the window. It felt like days had passed since I was trading a freshly-killed buck for some meat and _Ilithyia_ with Valerious_, _when in fact it was only a few hours. And now I would never see him again.

I ignored the prickle of tears as they harassed my eyes, refusing to think of what had happened in Cael. It was supposed to be a safe-haven, a refuge for people who had lost their way, for people who had nowhere else to go, no one else to turn to. And now look where it was at. It was a lone house in the middle of the woods, by a small lake. The rest of the town was destroyed, but Mercy had spent hours getting all the blood out of the floorboards, restoring it to top condition.

"_In case we come back"_ she had said, "_in case we need to create Cael again"_. It seemed like a pretty reasonable excuse, but I knew she just couldn't bare to see it destroyed. Too many memories we held in that house, many births and death, happy memories as good as bad; it was the house we had grown up in.

. . . **Time Lapse** . . .

Dean pulled the car into what seemed to be a car graveyard. The sign said _'Singer Salvage Yard'_.

"Come on out, girls, we're here" Dean bellowed, hopping out of his car quickly and heading for the main door to the building.

"Come on, Mercy, lets go," I said softly, nudging my little sister awake. She looked up at me with a tired, broken gaze that pulled at my heart-strings.

We got out of the car and went in the same way Dean and Sam did, only to be met with two familiar gazes and one that was unknown.

"Girls, that's Bobby. Bobby, the tall one's Valkyrie Woodworth and the little girl she's holding is her little sister, Mercy," Dean introduced us and I stood with my back straight, holding Mercy's frail form close to my body. I wasn't that tall, but I guess I could be considered tall for a girl, at 5'9". Compared to me, and people in general, Mercy was a tiny little thing at 5'2(and a half)".

I stretched my hand out for Bobby to shake, and he took it carefully.  
His hand-shake was firm, but I made sure to put a bit more strength than necessary as a silent warning.

"Are you hunters?" Bobby asked in a gruff voice once we had let go, rubbing his knuckles a bit.

"No," I dead-panned, not rude but not quite polite either.

"She killed an entire nest of vampires with nothing but a sword, and Mercy is a medic," Dean argued. Mercy didn't say anything, but she frowned slightly.  
Bobby's eyebrows shot up, almost being hidden in the cap.

"No way," he mumbled, looking me over.

"V's been hunting since she could walk. She could hit a bull's-eye at 100 feet," Mercy chose that moment to speak for the first time since that night. I decided not to make a big deal of it, knowing it would only make her shut up more.

"She has lots of weapons, mostly daggers, bows and swords though. Not many guns, but I think we have more than enough to make up," Sam said, smiling brightly at me. I simply nodded back.

Bobby nodded thoughtfully, rubbing his bearded chin.

"We'll get her target-practicing, with guns, her bow and arrows and some throwing-knives. And we'll also test Mercy's knowledge of treating common injuries in the hunter world," Bobby finally decided, waving us off and returning to his dusty books.

"Dean, you'll be testing Valkyrie and Sam, you're testing Mercy!" he shouted back at us at the last moment.  
I gave Mercy one last hug before going with Dean for target-practise.

. . . Time Lapse . . .

I had just proved my sister right with my arrows, and Dean was now handing me a shot-gun.

"Do you know how to shoot one of these?" he asked, handing me the shells that went with it.

"Yeah," was all I said as I loaded the gun and aimed carefully, shooting twice in a row.  
I got the first in the head and the second in the chest, right where the heart should be.

"Good aim," he complimented, witching the shot-gun for a hang-gun and going to change the dummy for a fresh one.  
I loaded the gun and took my aim. I had started shooting at the dummy's head when Dean opened his mouth to ask me a question.

"Do you think your sister likes me?" My aim changed slightly and I emptied the other half of the clip into the dummy's genital area. I heard Dean gulp.

"You touch her inappropriately before falling in love with her, and I will either castrate you or kill you. Maybe both," I warned, my voice low and serious.

"She's 19, barely legal. 7 years younger than you. I know you're only after one thing and I won't let you break her heart," I growled out, turning the empty gun towards Dean. He flinched slightly, imperceptible to others but I, because of my keen hunter's senses.

"Understood. Throwing knives?" he suggested, handing me said weapons before going to change the dummy again.

When he was back at my side, I started throwing and they all hit the dummy's head, except for one, which I threw in a very painful place as a reminder to Dean to keep his dick to himself around my sister.

"Can we go back inside now?" I asked, uncomfortable with having left Mercy alone with Sam and Bobby inside. I knew the one I really had to worry about was Dean, but that didn't reassure me much. For all I knew, Sam could be a better actor.

"Yeah, lets go," he said, and I heard a twinge of nervousness hidden in his voice. Either he was worried for the same reason as me, or he was worried about Mercy's keen knowledge of poisons. Especially the untraceable ones.

We walked in on the sound of someone screaming. It sounded like a guy's scream of pain.  
Justice was out and I was running towards the sound faster than I could ever remember having run in my entire life.

the first thing I saw when I ran in the room was Mercy with Sam's arm in her hands and Sam biting in a rag.  
Immediately, when Dean saw this, he had his gun out and pointed at Mercy. My sword was quickly pointed at Dean's throat.

"Drop the gun" I hissed.

"Tell your sister to let go of Sammy!" he growled back. I shot him a deathly glare, but Mercy answered for herself.

"Sammy dislocated his shoulder trying to show me something, I'm fixing it," she said simply, some of her sass coming back.  
I smiled slightly and kicked Dean's gun right out of his hands.  
He didn't oppose, but went after it instead.

I just noticed Bobby looking at us all with a curious expression on his face.

"Why the sword?" he asked suddenly. I stared at him with wide, confused eyes.

"What?"

"Why did you come rushing in with your sword instead of a gun or your bow?" he clarified. I blinked.

"I- I don't know. Reflex, I guess," I shrugged, but I did find it curious. Why my sword indeed?

"Are you alright, Sammy?" I heard Dean ask his brother in a rough voice. I let my eyes wander over to them, with my sister sitting there impassively, making what looked like some sort of poultice on a bandage.

"What's that?" I asked her, walking up.

"It's to make the swelling go down. After that, I'll make some Thyme tea for the shock, which you should have made me first thing, by the way," she said, continuing her job. I simply nodded, storing the information in my head for later.  
I didn't feel guilty, how could I have known? I never thought there would be a day where I would have to take care of my sister medically. That was her area, just like I would never expect her to go out hunting, which was my job.  
But I guessed I wouldn't be hunting bucks and rabbits anymore, at least not for a long while.

"mm. Well, I'll know for next time," I just shrugged and went into the next room, which happened to be a large library, confident that Mercy would be fine for the moment. I didn't trust the guys enough to leave the house yet, but this was alright.

"You two must have had a tough time," a voice coming from somewhere to my right surprised me into pulling my sword out. I put a hand on my chest when Bobby stepped out of the shadows.

"Yeah, I guess. Why?" I asked.

"Because it's about to get harder," Bobby suddenly grinned, and I realized it wasn't Bobby at all.  
I barely had the time to mumble a small _'oh shit'_ before fake bobby lunged at my throat.

_Ilithyia_ moved of her own accord and pierced right through the creature's heart, making its eyes flash silver and then dull into a shade of grey. I pulled my sword out of the thing's body before running out of the room like a bat out of hell.

"SAM! DEAN! BOBBY!" I screeched, running into the main room again. No one had moved much, and I was suddenly afraid they were all like the creature.  
I pointed my sword at Sam ans he got up to come and see me.

"Don't move," I said quickly, my chest heaving up and down as I breathed heavily, my heart hammering its way out of my rib-cage.

"I just witnessed a fake Bobby trying to kill me. Naturally, I killed it. Mind explaining?" I demanded. Dean was staring at me with slightly widened eyes as I brandished my sword this way and that, trying to discern whether these people were real or fake.

"Shape-shifter" Sam mumbled, and I decided to put down my sword. No one had tried to kill me yet, after all.  
I dropped _Ilithyia_, letting it clatter loudly to the floor.

Sam immediately ran towards me and engulfed me in a warm hug for the second time that day before I could reach for my sword again.  
I rested my head on his chest and reluctantly returned his hug, which was more than I could say happened the last time he held me. In fact, I was rather unresponsive last time.

I let a weary sigh escape my lips as I let myself give in to his embrace.

"Two attempts on my life in a day and a night is about as much as I can handle at the moment. If anyone else tries to kill me before sunrise tomorrow, I just might go on a homicidal rampage" I grumbled into the dark gray cotton of Sam's shirt. His laugh rumbled through my entire body, making my very bones tremble.

"I think V and Mercy should go to bed. We can continue their training and tests tomorrow. Hopefully no one will try to kill us before sunrise tomorrow" he said, his voice ringing through my head like a drum.  
I smiled and looked at my sister. She had that glint in her eye that promised trouble, it was dulled, but it was there.

"Me and Mercy are sharing a room!" I called quickly, not trusting my sister with Dean.  
Sam shook his head.

"You're exhausted. If something does happen, you won't be able to protect her properly. And I don't trust Dean to be in the same room as you without him trying something. I guess you're stuck with me tonight," Sam said, his arms tightening unconsciously around me.  
I saw the truth in his words.

"Fine. Dean, you'd better remember my talents on that poor dummy outside" I said with a sigh.  
I vaguely heard him gulp before Sam picked me up and carried me to a room. I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.


	4. Chapter 4

**I have decided that this is my new obsession. I can't wait for some of the more epic-y parts to happen, and at some point in time, there will be large time gaps, but those are plot devices in disguise so that if I forget to mention something or decide to add to some character skills, I can use the gap as an excuse... But you don't know that. I'm not sure I like **_**Justice**_**'s name anymore. I'm thinking about changing it, but to what? I need help about that, faithful readers. I welcome suggestions. [Edit: Nevermind, I changed it. It's **_**Ilithyia **_**now!]**  
**Disclaimer: True Blood and Supernatural aren't mine, otherwise I'd be extremely rich and busy with both Sam and Eric. **

I woke up groggily with arms wrapped tightly around my waist, and a face nuzzled in my neck.

"V, come on" I heard the whispered voice on the other side of the door. So that was what had woken me. I slipped out of Sam's grip and looked down to make sure that I was still wearing my clothing. When I was satisfied that Sam had not changed my clothes in my sleep, I slipped out the door to meet my sister.

"Please, pretty pretty please can I have sex with Dean without you castrating him?" my sister pleaded, gripping on to my shirt tightly. I got a hard, frustrated look on my face.

"No" I said, with finality in my tone.

"But I shouldn't even have to ask you! I'm 19, for gods' sake! Legal age of consent is 18!" she argued. I rose an eyebrow at her. The extent of her knowledge never failed to surprise me.

"How- Never mind. He's 7 years older than you, and he's a hunter. And I don't trust him," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. She had to see my point! He could seriously hurt her and he didn't seem like the careful type.

"I don't care! He's so fucking hot, and he knows just how to make me-" I cut her off by slamming my hands over my ears.

"Don't wanna know, don't wanna know. Did you two do anything yet?" I demanded after having gotten my point across that she was saying more than she should.

"Well, not really, just touching and I swear his hands are so skilled, he can make me-" I couldn't even drown that out with my hands over my ears, so I had to voice my opinions.

"T.M.I T.M.I! Fine. But not tonight. _And_ he has to woo you and me both. He has to charm me enough so that I'll let you. Tell him about it, if he thinks it's not worth the trouble, then _he's_ not worth your trouble. If he can convince me, I won't hurt him," I came to an agreement. Mercy grinned like a chesire cat.

"You won't castrate him, you mean?" she corrected. I smirked.

"Something like that," and now, before she could comment, I went back inside my room and locked the door.

"Couldn't sleep?" I heard a voice from behind me and two large, warm hands came to rest on my hips.

"Something like that," I repeated, leaning back into Sam's broad chest. He was very comfortable.  
He pulled me tightly against him again and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Bargaining with your sister so she could sleep with my brother?" he said, and I could hear the small smile in his voice.

"Yeah. I'm not going to bend, though, he's not fucking her and that's final. I just wanted her to get off my case," I mumbled, letting my eyes flutter close as the tiredness from earlier came back.

"Mm. I guess the prospect of getting charmed had nothing to do with it," he said, and gave a small chuckle that vibrated through my spine. I smirked,

"Nope, nothing at all," And with that, we went back to bed.

. . . RawR . . .

When I woke up again, I was alone in the bed and the covers were cool, signaling that the bed had been empty for a while. I smiled to myself, not minding the solitude one bit.  
I rather enjoyed it, actually, and it was one of the reasons why I liked hunting so much. Other people had an annoying tendency of getting the need to talk 24/7 if no one else was talking. Even then.  
But nonetheless, I got up and slipped into something more comfortable than what I was wearing.  
I put on an Alexander McQueen tank top, a black and white plaid mini-skirt, with fishnet thigh-highs and my knee-high Freja Boots. I slipped my sword sheath around my waist and place my sword in it, smiling slightly and the power I felt radiating from it. It was a comforting feeling.

The smell of breakfast reached me through the door and I bolted down the stairs. I was starving, not having eaten anything since lunch the day before last.

"Ah, sleeping beauty is finally up, I see" Dean commented, and I saw his eyes rake over my body appreciatively. I ignored it and went to see what Mercy was cooking.

"What are we having, Eir?" I asked, looking over her shoulder. I was in an inexplicable good mood this morning.

"Waffles, with syrup and butter and honey and ice cream and fruit and melted chocolate" she listed off, causing a grin to spread on my face.

"And whipped cream," I added, spotting it on the counter by her hands. She smiled slightly.

"Yes. Whipped cream too," she said. If you looked for it hard enough, you could still hear a bit of broken-ness, but I payed it no heed, too strung up in my own happy world to let anything bring me down.  
I turned around and practically skipped to the table, bouncing slightly in my seat.

Then I caught Dean's eye, and I remembered the deal I had made with my sister in the dead of night.

"Hey! You know that's my favorite, so you're doing it just to soften me up!" I said, pouting. Dean chuckled.

"It was my idea, but since I didn't know what you liked, I asked Mercy," he said, smiling brightly at her. I saw something else in his eyes, something that looked oddly like denial, but I chose to ignore that too. I settled for giving him the darkest, meanest, dirtiest look I could manage, considering my freakishly bubbly mood.

And then I realized what was missing.

"Hey, where are Sam and Bobby?" I asked, looking around. Neither of them was anywhere to be seen.

"Buying the rest of the stuff I need. Like syrup, and ice cream, and fruit and chocolate" she explained, naming half of the necessary ingredients for proper Valkyrie-approved waffles. I nodded seriously, trying my hardest not to grin like a mad-woman.

"So, Dean, are you planning to marry my sister?" I asked, and he choked on the beer he was drinking. Wait, beer?

"Marry?" he asked, clearing his throat. He looked terrified. I couldn't say I blamed him, the thought of being tied to someone else that way for the rest of eternity made me shudder too. And that someone else being my sister, I couldn't even imagine the horror.

"Yeah, with a white dress and flowers and a church. Or, you know, no church. Those things give me the creeps" I said, shuddering in disgust. I always hated churches, they creeped the fuck out of me.

"I- uh- well, it's too early to tell, I mean-" I cut him off, saving him from further embarrassment on that subject. Instead, I moved on to another subject that freaked me out even more.

"What about children? Surely you intend on having lots of kids," I said, supressing the urge to gag. Little children weren't safe around me, lets just keep it at that. Those little bastards made me aggressive with their whiny voices and inability to shut up and keep still.  
It worked. Dean looked about ready to bolt, but I couldn't help but see a small wistfulness behind his eyes, hiding a deeply-hidden wished, burried over years of convincing himself it was better this way. How intriguing.

Thankfully for Dean, Mercy saved him.  
"Valkyrie, stop scaring the poor man. The idea of those things terrifies you as much as it does him, so shut up," she said, waving her spoon at me. I smirked.

"So? You and I both know that you've always wanted that, don't deny it. This isn't about me this tine, Mercy," I said, shooting a wink towards Dean. It was his turn to glare at as though I had just cut off his dick. Minus the pain that would ensue, of course.

"Well, I can adjust. Besides, it's not like we're dating or anything, I just want one night with him," she said, wriggling in her spot a bit. It was a nearly invisible movement, that I had caught only because of my hunt-practiced eyes. I wondered if Dean had caught the signal that she was lying. She obviously wanted something more from him, but knew it wasn't his style as much as it wasn't mine.

"mhm," I kept it at that, not wanting Dean to be suspicious if he hadn't caught it. I would let her have her night with him, but if he hurt her, it would be the last sunset his eyes would ever see.

. . . Time Lapse . . .

The waffles had been great, the silence not too awkward while we were eating. Well, to me anyways.  
And now we were on our way to a hunt. Apparently, there was this thing called a Shtriga. It seemed to be some sort of evil vampire-witch crossbreed type-thing that drank little kid's 'life force' and made them fall into some sort of coma until they eventually died.

"So let me get this straight, this thing is ridding the town of little kids?" I said, eyebrows raised.  
Both Winchesters nodded.

"Then what's the problem?" I joked, a small smirk on my face. Sam gave me a shocked look, Dean nearly swerved off the road and Mercy elbowed me in the ribs.

"Owie! I was just kidding!" I complained, rubbing the now sore spot. My sister just glared at me.

"How do we kill the bitch?" she asked, leaning forwards in the seat. Sam pulled out a leather-bound journal and passed it back.

"Well, last time we faced on, we used consecrated iron bullets and shot the thing in the head," Sam said, while I opened the journal. I looked through it, reading some parts, trying to get a better view of the world of hunting.

"hmm... I see, but how do we get it to show up?" I asked, already knowing the answer. Mercy was always a little slow about things like this, so I wanted to make sure she knew what she was getting into. Sam immediately saw my game and tried to reassure her before she knew anything.

"Well, we're not quite sure, because, you see-" I cut him off. I would take no messing around.

"How did you lure it last time" I ground out, reading it myself.

"It doesn't have to-" Dean cut Sam off this time, knowing where I was going. He and I seemed to be more alike than I thought.

"Bait. We don't like it, but it's necessary otherwise the thing won't show" he said. I looked towards Mercy, who looked horrified at the prospect.

"No! You can't do that, it's not right!" she practically screeched.

"Mercy, you have to understand. We won't actually let the kid get hurt, but it's the only way. The Shtriga can disguise itself as a human and we have no other way of getting rid of the damn thing," I told her, gripping her shoulders tightly. I had already decided that I would be part of the hunt no matter what Mercy decided for herself.  
My sister looked at me with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.

"_WE_? I can't believe you'd agree to this, Valkyrie! After everything we've been through!" she shouted at me, looking pissed beyond believe. I shut down immediately at the attacking tone my sister was using.

"Mercy, shut the fuck up. Do you want all these kids to die? Do you want that many families to grieve their lost children because you were too chicken to take a little risk? No, you don't. You won't be hunting anyways, you're neither physically ready or emotionally ready enough for it," I said, my voice having turned colder and calmer than my eyes, which was saying something. Mercy had to learn her place, and she had to learn when to accept that she was wrong. This was going to happen whether she liked it or not.

"FINE!" she said with a huff, crossing her arms and turning to face the window. I simply returned to my reading.

. . . RawR . . .

I had pulled out my sword and was cleaning it slowly, enjoying the shine it got when I ran the cloth along it.

"V. can I talk to you?" Mercy finally asked. I barely looked up before placing my sword down and following her out of ear-shot. She had been pacing for the last hour while the Dean was out collecting information and Sam was doing some more research. She was obviously nervous about something.

"Yes?" I asked calmly, raising an eyebrow at my troubled sister.

"I'm worried. What if one of you gets hurt and I'm not up to healing you? What if- Gods forbid- one of you dies?" she asked, and I could feel the terror sinking its icy claws in my sister. I simply took her in my arms and let her rant her heart out about all her worries. The disaster from a few nights ago was obviously still fresh in her mind, as it was in mine, only it had a more... Painful affect on Mercy.

"Is your confidence in your abilities so low because of what happened a few nights ago?" I asked softly. When Mercy didn't answer, I took it as a yes.

"Mercy, it's not your fault. There was nothing you could do, even I have no idea how I got rid of all those things by myself" I said, tightening my hold on my broken little sister.  
Then, as though a brilliant idea had crossed her mind, she jumped out of my arms and grabbed _Ilithyia_. She pulled it out of its sheathe and stared at it for a moment, before looking back at me. I didn't like the way the sword looked in her hands.

"The sword. When you got it, you were mocking the fact that... You know who had said it was magic. What if it really is? What if it really has a power or something?" she asked, her eyes alight with excitement. The thought prickled my mind, dancing around in the light of my curiosity and I relished the possibility.

"I named it that night. With the blood of the vampires flowing over its blade," I commented, taking my sword back and watching it glint in the light. It was truly a beautiful sight.  
Mercy didn't seem at all bothered by the memory of the bloodshed that surely made my eyes shine dangerously. She was probably enjoying the fact that our town had known its revenge so quickly, before the souls had the time to wait.


	5. Chapter 5

**You people (my faithful readers that I love) should know that I'm a Sammy's girl and always have been, so there might be a little Sammy fluff, but I will center this story on Eric. Once he shows up, that is. And if my friend Emma (you know who you are) is reading this, the Emma in this story has nothing to do with you hun, I just love your name and find it sounds innocent.**

**Disclaimer: Supernatural isn't mine, neither is True Blood.**

The boys were now back, Sam had certified that it was indeed a Shtriga with loads of research while Dean had found out which little kid we could set up as bait. Not that he'd get hurt, of course.

"Alright, the kid's name is Ethan. He says his little sister Emma is in the hospital because he forgot to lock the windows before bed and that's why he'll help us," Dean said, his jaw locking and his eyes darting to Sam lightly.  
Anyone else would have missed it, but I saw the guilt flashing in his eyes, though it was gone faster than it appeared.

"So this Ethan kid, how are we going to set him up?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"We're not. We're going to go to his place, hide, and shoot the thing when it shows up," Sam said this time, his voice colder than I was used to.

"Good enough," I said, grabbing my bow and quiver. I slipped both over my shoulder and tied my hair back into a braid so it wouldn't get in my face while I tried to shoot the bastard.

Dean looked up at me and tossed a gun towards me.

"Think fast" he got out just before I caught it.

"Why do I need a gun?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He grinned.

"In case you run out of arrows" he mocked, shooting a wink at me. Then, he went over to my sister.

"You can kiss her, but nothing more!" I called towards him, putting the Glock 17 in the back of my leather shorts. Why leather? Because it doesn't get in the way when you're moving around and it's stretchy, to some degree.

I slipped some cartridges for the gun in the pockets of my belt and giving my sword a longing look. I couldn't take it with me though, because it was too big and would get in the way. Had we been going to a death-match with vampires, however, my sword would have been the most effective weapon.

I walked out the door pointedly, making my way to Dean's Impala and settling myself in it. I was ready for the fight, as ready as I was going to get.  
I didn't have to wait long before Sam and Dean came out too, the latter grinning like the madman he was.

"Dean," I started as he entered the car, "if you do anything to my sister that I wouldn't do, I'm chopping your balls off and handing them to you in a giftbox," I warned, threat lacing my voice. A hint of worry flashed across his face, but it was gone faster than it had appeared. Then, he was back to his arrogant, cocky self.

"Nah, they're too useful, you wouldn't chop them off," he argued.

"Oh? But they're of no use to me," I countered simply before putting on some music. The rest of the ride to Ethan's house was spent in silence, probably an awkward one for Sam and Dean, but I was just fine with it.

When we got there, the light in the kid's room had just turned off and we got out of the car.

"So, what's the plan again?" I asked.

"Shoot the ugly-looking thing that's sucking the soul out of the kid," Dean dead-panned and that was the last words we spoke before we went in the house. We crept up the stairs and I readied an arrow, preparing myself mentally for what I was about to face. I forged iron arrow tips in iron a while ago, just in case, and so I was using those.  
Dean opened the door a bit and slipped inside, quickly followed by Sam. Just as I was going to enter, I heard a rustling noise. I turned around quickly, pointing my arrow towards the thing that had made the noise.

And there was the kid on the couch, getting his soul sucked out by a creepy ass mother-fucker. I pulled the string and released my arrow directly into the heart of the thing, which fell backwards with one arrow sticking out of it's chest and another sticking out of it's head.

I ran down the stairs and to the kid's side, who was up and sobbing.

"Hey kid, you'll be alright, I promise. It'll be alright" I murmured, taking the kid in my arms and rocking him softly; like I had done for Mercy.

Soon, the guys came down the stairs after noticing that I wasn't in the room with them and noticed that I was with Ethan.

"Valkyrie! What are you doing down there?" Dean asked.

"I shot the Shtriga. It's gone," I said simply, giving the boys a wicked grin.

*Time Lapse*

I woke up to the bed shifting from beside me. With only two beds in the motel room, I shared with Sam and Mercy with Dean.

I kept my eyes closed so that Sam wouldn't know I was awake; in case it would cause him to put a stop to whatever he was doing.

I heard him pull out what I guessed was his phone and answer it.

"Ruby" was all he said, before I heard the washroom door open and close. I sneaked out of bed and pressed my ear to the wall by the washroom, that way if Sam opened the door, I wouldn't be caught. I closed my eyes and concentrated extra hard to be able to hear both sides of the conversation.

"You know I can't," I heard Sam whisper harshly into his phone.

"_Do you want to kill Lilith or not, Sam? You need this and you know it,"_ I heard an annoying female voice answer him. I assumed that the woman was named Ruby, but who the hell was Lilith?

"Of course I want to kill her, but I don't do demon blood anymore," his voice lowered to a point where even I could barely hear it. Demon blood? What?

"_It's the only way, you know it as well as I do." _she said, her tone condescending. I resisted lightly the urge to frown. I heard Sam sigh.

"Fine, but you know Dean's going to have my head for this if he finds out," he grumbled.

_Make that _WHEN_ he finds out_, I thought to myself.

I got in bed quickly, guessing that he was coming out of his hiding spot and not wanting to blow my cover.  
When he did come out, he just made sure no one was awake before he walked out the door, presumably to go see this Ruby character.

I figured that since I already knew his secret, I might as well stalk him to find out the details as well. So I sneaked out after him and followed him from afar as he slid through the shadows to a shady-looking shack.

He walked inside and I sneaked around to where I could find a window so that I could spy on him, straining my ears to hear the conversation that would no doubt ensue with this Ruby chick.

I saw them talking, but I couldn't hear anything other than muffled sounds. She soon pulled out a knife, which really made me regret having left my bow at the motel.

However, contrarily to my worries, she went ahead and sliced her arm open, probably in attempted suicide. For some reason, I didn't give much of a shit about that.

But then, the weirdest thing happened, Sam started sucking on the cut; effectively drinking her blood.

Just then, I noticed a man with black eyes on a chair by them, and as soon as Sam was done drinking his dose of Ruby-blood, he turned to the man, asked a few questions and held his hand out at him.

Now, this might have confused me if black smoke hadn't started pouring out of the man's mouth and sinking into the ground.

Which, come to think of it, confused me anyways and frightened me slightly.

So I bolted back to the motel and went back to bed, deciding that I'd keep the information in mind without telling anybody; just in case I one day needed to blackmail Sam with something for some reason I had yet to figure out.

*RAWR*

I woke up to my sister prodding me in the side.

"V, wake up. Dean says we're moving again," she said, poking me again. I just groaned and turned around, ignoring her words. I was somewhat tired after stalking my bed-mate last night and wanted to sleep.

"Go away" I managed to grumble, wiggling around a bit. I knew there would be no way around getting up, but I could still try.

**A/N 2: As a side-note, I decided that the Supernatural part of this would take place in season 4, as it is the most bendable season in my opinion. Lots to do with it, lots of drama and possibilities and all that. Review please, my dear favorite readers!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: In light of a 'recent' review, I just want to remind my readers that this story is ****_not_**** Eric/Dean. It's Dean/Mercy and Eric/V okie dokie? Fun times. Read on!**

"We'll drive around for a bit, looking for a job. If we don't find anything within a week, we'll probably go to the Roadhouse or Bobby's, see if anyone has anything for us," Dean shouted at me. I nodded and got up, grabbing my bags, hauling them to the Impala and hopping in the back, then waiting for the others to join me.

* * *

A few months had passed, and Mercy and I were earning our names in the supernatural world. Valkyrie and Mercy Woodworth, "their names fit their attitudes" it was said. Ellen said we were attracting too much attention to ourselves, as we never bothered to hide. We left few witnesses, but the ones we did leave told our tale to everyone they met, the tall one that almost killed them, Valkyrie and the one who calmed her down, Mercy. The Winchester girls. Dean was basking in the spotlight, while Sam just rolled his eyes.

This time, we were at a motel, sitting there and eating pie, when the door slammed open. Both mine and Mercy's eyes snapped up, my hand flying to my sword, which I had taken to keeping on me at all times.

"I found you! I can't believe it!" the man bellowed, a wide grin spreading across his familiar face. My eyes narrowed into a glare as I sheathed _Ilithyia_ again and stood up, striding purposefully to the man.

He opened his arms in an inviting manner, but I paid it no mind, curling my right hand into a fist and sending it flying at his face.

The punch made a satisfying 'crunch' noise on impact, making Balthazar stumble back a few steps. I had gotten stronger physically than I had been before, having gotten myself in more than my share of fist-fights and I knew how to hold my own against a man my brother's size.

"You left! Just like that, you left us to fend for ourselves!" I screamed at him, nearly shaking in my blinding rage.

He raised his hands in surrender.

"I'm sorry V, I swear! But I offered you to come, it was your choice to stay behind!" He said, countering my accusations. It didn't help one bit, if anything it made it worst.

"And leave Mercy all alone? Who would have fed her, huh? Mom? You know it was always dad that got _her_ food! And when he left it was just you and me, no one else!" I screeched, swinging at him again. He avoided it this time, and grabbed my wrists.

"I'm so sorry Val, I didn't think... But you left too, with Mercy. You left Cael behind, to fend for themselves," he countered, easily holding me in place while I thrashed and shouted insults at him.

"Left them behind? Oh, you don't know? _They're __**gone**_! All of them, Vamp chow! Oh, but I avenged them, that I did. The bloodsuckers felt the steel of my blade as I ripped their heads from their body, their blood coating it and giving it life in my hands as I danced," I hissed, a grin forming and my eyes shining as I remembered the bloodshed. Balthazar looked at me warily.

"They're all gone? All of them?" he asked, sorrow evident in his voice. I shook my head.

"I think a few got away," I said, remembering distinctly not having seen my mother's body in the pile.

"I'm sorry, I really am. If I would have known-" he stopped, his voice choking him. I stopped struggling and stepped forward, letting wrap his huge arms around me as a few tears fell from my eyes and I finally let myself grieve for the death of my people. I had kept myself and Mercy distracted for the past few months, with the Winchesters, but now, in my brother's arms... I couldn't hold it back anymore, and I was swamped with the grief.

A choked sob escaped me as I remembered their faces, both grinning with life and slack with death, the comparison flashing through my mind as I remembered building the pyre and burning them.

I felt a few tears staining my shoulder, but I didn't care right now as I finally let the sadness sweep me away.

* * *

After my break-down, we had packed our stuff and gotten back on the road. Balthazar was following behind us in his car, a Jeep Dodge.

I didn't know what had happened for him to finally decide he wanted to catch up with us, but he had decided that it was high time he caught up with his sisters.

"Why did you leave?" I asked out loud. I had my phone on speakerphone so that both Mercy and I could have a conversation with him.

"Dad called me. He wanted our help," he said. I pursed my lips. I had never known what my dad did for a living.

"With what? No one ever told me his job," I asked. I just hoped that it wasn't too inappropriate for my sister.

"Dad was a bounty hunter. An assassin. He got double-crossed by his partner just before we moved to Cael. The others were some of his connections, people that other people wanted dead because they knew too much. When he left us, he had gotten wind that his old partner had been killed and wanted to make sure that was true. He did supernatural creatures as well as humans, even before they became public. He said normal humans were too easy," our brother explained. I was in shock, and I had no doubt that my sister was much the same. It explained my skills.

It also explained why dad had gotten with our mother, who was a skilled healer, in the first place.

My sister and I were quiet for a moment before I answered.

"So... He contacted you? That would mean that you're a bounty hunter too. Or, at least, were," I said, coming up with the conclusion.

There was a pause on his end, as he surely debated how to answer me.

"I am. Or was, sort of. Truth is, I lost dad. He went off on a contract and didn't come back," he explained.

I looked over to Mercy, who looked rather worried at this new development.

"So you need our help." As I said it, I knew it to be true. Balthazar had no other reason to seek us out, it wasn't in his nature. He was more the type to stay out of it unless something bad was going on.

Our brother was silent for a while, but eventually he answered my question.

"Yes," and then he hung up.

My eyes darted to my sister before returning to the road stretching out in front of us for miles. She was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, a sure sign that she was over-thinking things. She tended to get a penchant for the melodramatic when something remotely bad happened, and this was about as bad as it got, worry-wise.

"Do you think we should help him?" she asked, almost an hour later. City lights were in view, alerting us that we were approaching the next stop as the sun came down.

I took a moment to think her question over.

She had started to do that, rather recently, turning to either myself or Dean when she was confused or unsure, the same way she used to turn to mom.

When mom was still around, that is.

"I think you should stay with the Winchesters. I'll go with Balthazar in search of dad, but with bounty hunters after us I might not be able to look after you properly," I started, then caught her glare and interrupted her upcoming speech before it started.

"Don't start, Mercy, you know what I mean. I know you can hold your own, but you're not a fighter. Never have been. That's nothing to be ashamed of, sis, but you need to play within your area of expertise. Mine is hunting, whether it's game or otherwise. Yours is healing, and I think you'd be better off with the boys, Gods know they get hurt often enough."

The look on my sister's face told me she grudgingly agreed to the valid point I made.

Sam and Dean had been silent for a while, almost making me forget they were in the car with us (never mind the fact that Dean's the one actually driving).

"What do you think, boys?" I asked them. It wouldn't do, after all, to go dumping my sister on them without their consent.

"You gotta do what you gotta do. If someone knows what it's like to have a dead-beat dad, it's us. We'll take care of Mercy for you, V," Dean said, looking at me briefly through the rear-view.

I nodded and my eyes met my sister's. She nodded back.

"Stop at the next city, I'll ride with Taz until I learn how to drive for myself and get a vehicle."


End file.
